Friday, May 20, 2011

My source tree now only consists of the actual module, the test scripts, the Changes file, (yes, there is the README.pod, but that is generated by D::Z for github's benefit) and the dist.ini file for Dist::Zilla. This file contains the distribution metadata and the plugins / plugin configuation to be used in the build process.

I like to use the -v on the graphical modules and PDL because they have tests where it helps to read the output that cpanm suppresses. If you don't need that, you may omit the -v.

Also if it seems that any of those hang, try hitting the enter key to continue. Some of the plotting tests require you click around, do so, sometimes hitting the right mouse button as well. You may need to close the PGPLOT server window at some point as well (black window that doesn't seem like its doing anything).

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

I have been meaning to learn a compiled language and Google's Go language has intrigued me. It's a new compiled language with high-level features. Finally though I think I have found a reason to try: Campher, it's Perl in Go! Now I have all the security blanket of a language I know and love in a new one!

Friday, May 6, 2011

Anyone who has gotten deep enough into Perl programming has been asked questions about PERL. Supposedly this is another programming language related to Perl, but only used by newcomers.

I submit however that this is the natural course of events with the Perl noob. It is the PERL flow -- Print Evaluate Read Loop.

Many people are familiar with the REPL (Read Evaluate Print Loop) mechanism of program interaction. This simply is a program that Reads a line of code, Evaluates what that line does, and Prints the response, Looping in order to do it all over again.

PERL is very similar. The noob Prints out some Perl code, perhaps amending some totally unrelated and possibly aweful old code found online somewhere, Evaluates it on some poor shmucks on say Stack Overflow, asking why it isn't doing some task (which it had no earthly possibility of doing), Reads what he should have read in the documentation, and finally Loops, doing the cycle over again.

In truth I am happy to help the Perl noobie from PERL to Perl, but every now and again you would think they would learn to capitalize it properly. I cannot figure out how they can all say Python (never PYTHON) but not Perl.